HER MAJESTY'S SHIP

'His' or 'Her Majesty's Ship' ('HMS') is the title used for ships of the navy in some monarchies, either formally or informally.

Contents

HMS

United Kingdom

Former British Empire

Current

Obsolete

References

See also

HMS

★ In the British Royal Navy, it refers to the King or Queen of the United Kingdom as appropriate at the time. Formerly, 'HBMS' for 'His' or 'Her Britannic Majesty's Ship' was also used.^[1]

★ In the Royal Swedish Navy, consequently, the prefix stands for 'Hans' or 'Hennes Majestäts Skepp'.

United Kingdom

Submarines in Her Majesty's service have the prefix 'HM Submarine', as they are technically boats not ships. Similarly, the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'', which was a commissioned ship in the Royal Navy, was known as 'HMY ''Britannia'''. Otherwise all ships in the Royal Navy are known as HM Ships, though formerly when a distinction was made between three-masted ship-rigged ships and smaller vessels they would be called HM Frigate ''X'', or HM Sloop ''Y''.
The prefix "HMS" is also used by shore establishments which are commissioned "stone frigates" in the Royal Navy. Examples include HMS ''Excellent'', which is a training school located on an island in Portsmouth Harbour, and HMS ''Vulcan'', in Caithness in the Highland area of Scotland, which is established to test the design of nuclear power systems for use in submarines.
The sample ship name used by the Royal Navy is HMS ''Nonsuch''^[2]. This ''is'' a name that has been used by the Royal Navy in the past; on the eve of World War II the name devolved to the Royal Canadian Navy. HMCS ''Nonsuch'' is at present the "stone frigate" of the Edmonton Division of the Canadian Naval Reserve.^[3]
British government ships not in the Royal Navy have other designations, such as "RFA" for ships in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Former British Empire

As one person is separately and equally monarch of each of the sixteen Realms of the Commonwealth, many other realms besides the United Kingdom use a variation of the "HMS" designation.

Current

★ Canada: 'HMCS' – Her Majesty's 'Canadian' Ship

★ Australia: 'HMAS' – Her Majesty's 'Australian' Ship

★ New Zealand:'HMNZS' – Her Majesty's 'New Zealand' Ship

★ Bahamas: 'HMBS' – Her Majesty's 'Bahamian' Ship

★ Bermuda: 'HMBS' – Her Majesty's 'Bermudian' Ship

★ Papua New Guinea: 'HMPNGS' – Her Majesty's 'Papua New Guinea' Ship[http://www.awm.gov.au/glossary/result.asp?browse=h Australian War Memorial Glossary

★ Jamaica: 'HMJS' – Her Majesty's 'Jamaican' Ship^[4]

★ Tuvalu: 'HMTS' – Her Majesty's 'Tuvaluan' Ship^[5]

Obsolete

★ Colonial: 'HMCS' – Her Majesty's 'Colonial' Ship^[6][7]

★ Australia: 'CNS' – Commonwealth Naval Ship^[8][9]
:
★ Victoria: 'HMVS' – Her Majesty's 'Victorian' Ship^[10][11]
:
★ Queensland: 'HMQS' – Her Majesty's 'Queensland' Ship^[12]

★ Burma: 'HMBS' – Her Majesty's 'Burmese' Ship

★ South Africa: 'HMSAS' – Her Majesty's 'South African' Ship

★ India: 'HMIS' – Her Majesty's 'Indian' Ship

★ Ceylon: 'HMCyS' – His or Her Majesty's 'Ceylon' Shiphttp://www.4dw.net/royalark/abbrevs.htm

★ Pakistan: 'HMPS' – His or Her Majesty's 'Pakistan' Ship

References

1. www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq63-1.htm
2. http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/3190.html
3. http://www.navres.forces.gc.ca/navres/noh/a/a_e.htm
4. http://www.jdfmil.org/overview/bases/bases_home6.html
5. http://www.seemotive.de/abkmaritim/BuchstabeH.htm
6. Australian War Memorial - Unit Name Thesaurus
7. The gunboat CNS (formerly HMCS) Protector; 1909 (National Library of Australia)
8. http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/2001/10_15_01/story22.htm
9. Port-side view of the former South Australian Colonial gunboat HMAS (ex HMS, ex HMCS) Protector; 1918 (National Library of Australia)
10. Department of the Environment and Water Resources: HMVS Cerberus
11. http://www.navy.gov.au/reserves_new/historyDocuments/The_Great_Gun.doc
12. HMQS Gayundah (Aboriginal for 'lightning') and her sister ship HMQS Paluma ('thunder') (National Library of Australia)

See also

★ See ship prefix for a list